In popular books and movies, the spy chief is an all-knowing, all-powerful figure who masterfully moves spies into action like pieces on a chessboard. How close are fact and fiction? What does it really take to be an effective leader in the world of intelligence? What role do they really play in foreign affairs and national security?

This first volume of Spy Chiefs answers these questions and more. It sheds light on the shadowy world of espionage with penetrating profiles of twentieth-century spy chiefs in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Engaging portraits introduce a range of figures, from famous spy chiefs such as William Donovan, Richard Helms, and Stewart Menzies to little-known figures such as John Grombach, who ran an intelligence organization so secret that not even President Truman knew of it.

Spy Chiefs will engage and enlighten both intelligence specialists and general readers curious about intelligence and its history.